Chapter Ninety-One: The Overbearing Golden Flame Sect

Fire of the burning sky...

Ugh...

At the edge of the battlefield, all was silent. Yet within it, the noise was thunderous: the battle cries of cultivators unleashing their spells, the furious roars of the bear beasts after being struck by attacks, all surging out from the field without end.

At the center of the battlefield, several men in black robes stood tightly packed in a ring. Around them, spiritual weapons flashed through the air as they exerted themselves to the utmost, casting their strongest techniques and repeatedly forcing back the savage bears that charged in.

Outside the black-robed cultivators, a thick encirclement of bears had gathered. There were many of them; of the bears besieging the black-robed group alone, there were more than twenty. Beyond that outer ring was yet another herd, centered on a particularly large bear that glared menacingly toward a cluster of blue-robed cultivators at the northwest corner of the battlefield.

At the very outermost edge of the battle circle stood those blue-robed cultivators, watching coldly. There were about a dozen of them, all masked in black cloth, long swords strapped to their backs, and all eyeing the huge bear with hostility, giving little attention to the cultivators in the center who were fighting the beasts to the death.

...

"Spit..."

One black-robed cultivator exhausted his spiritual power. His weapon was knocked away by a bear, and another bear immediately followed, slamming its heavy body into the cultivator. Struck, the black-robed cultivator coughed up blood and flew backward like a broken kite, tracing a long arc through the air.

Thud, thud...

With the black-robed cultivator sent flying, the bears behind him pressed in; his fellow disciples were directly in the path. His body crashed into them, and the tightly packed defensive circle was instantly shattered. The first man struck rolled backward several times before dropping motionless to the ground.

Ugh...

The cultivators' formation was breached, and the bears surged in, pouncing, biting...

In the blink of an eye, the orderly defense from moments before was swallowed by a sea of bears. Dozens of them came and went like a tide, and in an instant the black-robed cultivators vanished from the demon-hunting battlefield.

"Senior Brother?" Tang Wan, shocked by the grisly scene before her, turned to Jiang Yan and spoke.

"Shh." Jiang Yan raised a hand to stop her, then pointed toward a large tree not far ahead, near the edge of the battlefield.

"The highest cultivators of the Golden Flame Sect are all up in that tree. The blue-robed cultivators opposite them are from the Western Mountain Sect, a second-rank sect. Over there is another pack of bears, and the especially large one in the middle is a first-rank upper-tier Bear King. If my guess is right, the Golden Flame Sect has set its sights on that Bear King."

Jiang Yan glanced at the black-robed cultivators who had been nearly wiped out and said calmly.

Seeing their deaths, a flicker of thought passed through Jiang Yan's eyes. If not for the auxiliary functions of the sect-master system, his own fate might well have been the same as that of this annihilated sect—nothing would be left behind.

Tang Wan looked uneasily at the distant tree. Though the foliage was dense, she could still make out a few faint silhouettes. Her heart agreed with Jiang Yan's assessment, and she quickly abandoned any thought of asking him to help the other side. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. The two sects ahead were both stronger than their own Mount Hua Sect; if she and her senior brother showed themselves now, the first to die would surely be Mount Hua.

"Ah-ugh..."

At the center of the battlefield, the stout bear let out a cry. The bears that had been gnawing at the spiritual weapon left behind by the black-robed cultivators instantly stopped. Like flowing water, the pack shifted, drawing an uneven brown line as they all turned to face the blue-robed cultivators.

"Heh heh..."

A strange laugh rose from among the blue-robed cultivators.

"Senior Sect Leader, these beasts really think our Western Mountain Sect is as easy to bully as that ruined Cold Moon Mountain sect. Give the order, Senior Sect Leader. Let this junior be the first to strike and slaughter these ignorant brutes, and we'll finish the demon-hunting task and hurry to the Demon-Hunting Gate."

Among the blue-robed group, the old man standing at the front spoke urgently to the elder behind him.

"The one in the middle is the Bear King. It's a first-rank upper-tier beast, stronger even than this old man by a notch. Not easy to deal with, Brother Feng."

The sect master of the Western Mountain Sect, Wen Putian, stepped forward and came before his disciples, looking at the great black bear across from him as he spoke.

"The Bear King?" Brother Feng could not help shrinking his neck. He was at the seventh level of the Qi Refinement stage; if he went up, he would surely be no match. "Senior Sect Leader, what should we do next? Do we leave, or do we fight these beasts head-on?"

"Leave?" Wen Putian gave a cold laugh. "Impossible. This demon-hunting battlefield is bound to contain three great Beast Kings. One is the Leopard King among the spotted leopards at the outer edge; one is this Bear King; as for the last, I do not know where it is. But if we cannot gather the beast cores of the three Beast Kings, there is no way to activate the Demon-Hunting Gate. Even if we reach it, it will be useless."

Brother Feng scratched his head and drew the great sword from behind his back, speaking with rustic honesty. "In that case, I'll obey whatever arrangement Senior Sect Leader makes. Whether we hunt down this Beast King or wait for the other second-rank sects to join in, this junior will follow your lead."

Wen Putian reached out and patted Brother Feng on the shoulder, speaking with clear pride. "For decades, my Western Mountain Sect has stood tall in Linqing Prefecture precisely because of disciples like Brother Feng, who devote themselves to the sect. This time, whether our sect can pass the demon hunt depends on all of you."

"We will obey the Sect Leader's commands. Though we must go through fire and water, we shall not hesitate."

Behind Wen Putian, several Western Mountain Sect disciples spoke at once.

"Form the Earth and Wind Separation Array!"

Wen Putian extended a hand and slowly rested it on the hilt of the sword at his back. The blade left its scabbard, and with a thunderous shout he unleashed the Western Mountain Sect's secret art: the Earth and Wind Separation Array.

Swish, swish...

The neat sound of swords being drawn rang out across the field. The spiritual swords behind the Western Mountain Sect disciples rose into the air, their points all aimed at the bears within the battlefield.

"Drifting Dust Everywhere."

Wen Putian pointed his sword toward the Bear King in the field. The blade hummed continuously, and word by word he called out the name of the first stance of the Earth and Wind Separation Array.

Boom, boom...

Swish, swish...

Four blue-robed Western Mountain Sect disciples leaped forward in perfect unison. Their movements were as one, and the dance of the swords overhead matched them exactly as they plunged into the bear pack.

...

Little by little, time passed, and the sun of the Misty Wave Demon Realm shifted across the sky. The western sun sank, then the eastern sun sank, and the battle between the Western Mountain Sect and the bears gradually neared its end. Among the sects of Linqing Prefecture, the Western Mountain Sect ranked just below the Heaven Mountain Sect and was likewise a behemoth among sects. The Heaven Mountain Sect had suffered heavy losses against the first-rank upper-tier Leopard King, and now the Western Mountain Sect, facing an equally formidable first-rank upper-tier Bear King, had not fared any better.

The Western Mountain Sect had nine disciples taking part in the demon hunt, and the Earth and Wind Separation Array required at least six to operate. Though the Bear King launched a desperate counterattack and injured two Western Mountain Sect disciples at the seventh level of Qi Refinement, whenever one fell, another immediately stepped in to replace him, so the formation remained intact throughout.

"Roar..."

Standing among the corpses of bears strewn across the ground, the Bear King reared up on its hind legs. Its two short forelimbs hammered against its chest as it gave an enraged howl, full of indignation, fury, and unwillingness.

Thud.

At last, the Bear King's massive body fell. As the wounds across it multiplied, it could no longer endure and collapsed to the ground.

"Senior Sect Leader, we killed it."

Brother Feng walked to the Bear King and kicked its bulky body several times. Seeing no reaction, he said excitedly to Wen Putian, who was panting heavily nearby.

"Good. Brother Feng, take out the Bear King's core."

Wen Putian's body rose and fell violently as he gave the order. In the battle just now, he had expended a great deal of spiritual power. On one hand, he had borne most of the Bear King's attacks; on the other, he was already advanced in years and had long been unable to break through the Qi Refinement stage, so his strength had begun to decline.

"Yes!"

Brother Feng answered loudly and raised the spiritual sword in his hand, about to bring it down upon the bear.

Whoosh...

A piercing sound of air suddenly exploded overhead.

Clang!

Brother Feng's long sword was knocked away, emitting a harsh metallic crash.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Several yellow-clad figures leaped forward and abruptly appeared in the field.

"The Golden Flame Sect!" Brother Feng stared in shock at the yellow-robed men before him and cried out.

The standard attire of the Golden Flame Sect was yellow. Within Linqing Prefecture, only the disciples of the Golden Flame Sect were permitted to wear yellow. If any other sect dared to do so, the Golden Flame Sect would certainly slaughter its way to their doorstep and annihilate them completely. Three years earlier, disciples of a sect had violated the prohibition by wearing yellow, and when one Golden Flame Sect disciple discovered it, the sect dispatched all of its peak Qi Refinement experts. That very night they exterminated the small sect to the last man, leaving not even the servants alive. Therefore, in Linqing Prefecture, anyone wearing yellow must be a disciple of the Golden Flame Sect.

"The Golden Flame Sect!"

Wen Putian's brow furrowed tightly as he slowly stood up. The Golden Flame Sect had come neither early nor late, but precisely when he was about to claim the spoils. It seemed clear they had come for this first-rank upper-tier beast core.

"Greetings to our fellow disciples of the Golden Flame Sect. May I ask why you have obstructed my Western Mountain disciples from taking the spoils of battle?"

Though Wen Putian was already certain of the answer, if he did not ask even one question and simply abandoned the bears that his disciples had fought to kill with their lives, his standing within the sect would plummet.

"Wen Putian, there is no longer any business here for your Western Mountain Sect. Get lost at once."

The leading Golden Flame Sect disciple in blue glanced at Wen Putian, his eyes full of contempt and schadenfreude.

Wen Putian's aged face reddened, and the look he gave the Golden Flame Sect disciple turned hostile. "Sir, my Western Mountain Sect has spared no effort. We did not come here to make wedding garments for you. These beast cores alone are already enough to fulfill the requirements of the demon-hunting task. For one word from you to make my sect abandon all these achievements—isn't that a bit much?"

"Heh heh."

An aged voice drifted from within the yellow-robed group.

An old man with somewhat graying hair and a black veil over his face stepped forward, his tone thick with disdain. "Wen Putian, Sect Master Wen Putian of the Western Mountain Sect, since when have you spoken to my Golden Flame Sect in such a hard tone? What is it—have you taken a fancy to trying to snatch things from us?"

"Elder Xie!"

Wen Putian's expression changed abruptly as he stared in astonishment at the yellow-robed figure whose hair was faintly white.

Elder Xie walked to the Bear King. At his feet, a spiritual sword dropped by a Western Mountain Sect disciple suddenly flew up. It traced a graceful arc and cut diagonally into the Bear King's fat body. After several slashes, blood burst from within the bear, and with that blood came the round beast core, falling to the ground.

When Wen Putian saw the core on the ground, a flash of red light appeared in his eyes, but upon seeing Elder Xie standing there coldly, he could only force down the hatred in his heart. Elder Xie was the younger brother of the Golden Flame Sect's sect master, Xie Wenyuan. His status was second only to the sect's great Foundation Establishment experts, and he himself was also a peak expert. Thus, though Wen Putian's rage surged like a flood, in Elder Xie's presence he had no choice but to swallow it.

Whoosh...

Elder Xie curved his hand into a claw and seized the beast core.

Ah-ugh...

A furious roar sounded from deep within the forest in the distance.

...

PS: I took a quick look at the cover just now, and the reader impressions for "no female lead" and "harem all the way" are somehow tied. Truly vexing! Students, do you all really love taking such extreme routes...?